About the initiative Mabuhay Gardens is a storied cultural venue with a legendary history. The building has hosted performances by legends including Louis Armstrong, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Dead Kennedys, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Specials, Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Herbie Hancock, R.E.M., Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Soundgarden, Bad Religion, Dave Chappelle, and many others. Via CrowdDoing, we are regenerating the Mab as a hybrid cultural ecosystem: live music, dance, comedy, rentals, popup culinary lab, off-peak wellness partnerships, art-walk activations, and solarpunk / regenerative-culture programming. Folk, roots, Americana, and singer-songwriter music live and die on listening-room culture — rooms where the craft of the song is the point, not a backdrop. This role is about finding acoustic artists, songwriters, and roots acts whose work rewards close attention, and building programming that gives them exactly that kind of room.
The puzzle There's an interesting listening puzzle underneath this role: what actually makes material hold up under a quiet room's close attention, when a lot of songwriting only works with noise to hide behind. Listening-room culture is fragile — it depends on booking artists whose material actually holds up under quiet attention, and on building an audience that knows to expect that kind of night. The puzzle is finding songwriters and roots acts with the craft to earn a quiet room, and shaping programming that signals, clearly, what kind of night it's going to be.
What you'll do:
You'll tend a defined slice of folk, roots, and singer-songwriter curation — enough to bring real, credible options to the producing team in your first month, without carrying the whole venture.Scene mapping — Track folk, roots, Americana, and singer-songwriter artists and the rooms, festivals, and residencies where they've built an audience, paying attention to craft and songwriting strength.Curatorial judgment — Build shortlists based on genuine songwriting and performance craft, distinguishing artists ready for a dedicated listening-room night from artists better suited to other formats.Social listening for collaboration moments — Watch the social media accounts, newsletters, and public communications of adjacent listening rooms, folk societies, and singer-songwriter communities to spot upcoming shows and moments where the Mab could naturally weave in as a collaborator rather than a stranger.AI-assisted research and relationship writing — Use AI tools to enrich artist profiles (discography, past performances, touring patterns) and draft warm, informed introductory messages that show real familiarity with the work.Relationship nurture — Maintain light, ongoing contact with artists and their teams so the room is a known, trusted option by the time timing aligns.Listening-room concept design — Help shape night formats — in-the-round bills, songwriter circles, quiet-room sets — that respect the craft and set clear expectations for the audience.Relationship tracking — Keep a simple tracker of artists you've connected with, with status and next steps. A short weekly written update keeps the team oriented.
Who this role is for We're looking for someone who can contribute meaningfully from week one — not a senior booking executive, not an assistant. Somebody with real, demonstrable skill in at least two of the following, and curiosity about the rest: Deep, current knowledge of folk, roots, Americana, or singer-songwriter scenes Curatorial or booking experience in any independent or listening-room music context A genuine ear for songwriting and performance craft Warm, well-researched relationship writing that respects artists' time Lightweight relationship-tracking or CRM discipline (spreadsheets, Notion, Airtable, or similar) Comfort with AI-assisted research and relationship-writing workflows (any current LLM tool) Genuine curiosity about what makes a song hold up under quiet, close attention, rather than a goal-driven interest in filling a listening-room calendar Comfort watching social media, community feeds, and newsletters with a listening ear rather than a promotional one You'll thrive here if you care about songwriting as a craft, understand what makes a good listening room work, and want to help build nights that give quiet, careful music the attention it deserves.
Why do thisThe problem matters. Songwriters with real craft often get lost between loud rock bills and generic acoustic-open-mic slots. Dedicated listening-room programming gives their work the room it needs.The stakes are real. The artists you surface could play actual shows, for actual audiences, in a room built to hold quiet attention as well as loud nights.The craft is subtle, and it will test your ear. You'll have to develop real discernment about which songs and performers actually hold up in a quiet room versus which only work with volume to cover for them. That's a careful, specific kind of listening most people never train deliberately.The room is legendary. You're helping regenerate a venue where legends across music, comedy, poetry, and cultural experimentation performed.You'll work alongside people who care, across a much wider map than this room. You'll collaborate asynchronously with CrowdDoing's global network of volunteers — people working on wildfire prevention, community resilience, and regenerative agriculture — through shared written updates, shared docs, and async check-ins. You will likely never meet most of them in person, and you'll still learn from how they think. That cross-pollination between wildly different fields is not a side benefit of this role. It's the point.
Time commitment & structure Flexible, part-time, mostly asynchronous Ongoing commitment, renewable Onboarding via CrowdDoing's standard volunteer orientation
How to apply: Send a short note (5–8 sentences is plenty) covering:
- Which 2–3 areas above you can contribute in immediately, with one specific example (a songwriter or roots act you've tracked closely, a listening-room night you've helped shape, a scene you know deeply)
- One artist or act you'd want to bring into the conversation in your first month, and why
- Your available hours per week and time zone
- No cover letter theater. Show us how you think and who you know.---*CrowdDoing is an equal-opportunity volunteer organization. We welcome contributors of every background, geography, and career stage. This is an unpaid volunteer role and service-learning opportunity.*
